Her giggle was venomous, high pitched and way too cheery. Just the mere sound of her tiny laugh brought severe pain to his ears. By the looks of it, it erupted discomfort from within his Slytherin peers also.
Theodore and his fellow Slytherin mates, sat quietly in their Professors office. Umbridge, had offered each of them tea, Theodore knew it would not be wise to accept, none of his friends did, so each sat empty handed and watched with boredom as their teacher stirred in her sugar... way too much if you ask him.
He made sure he chose the seat closest to the door, he had to be in the library the moment their 'endeavour' was over and he did not wish to be late yet again to his time with Aurora. He planned prior, that the very second Umbridge was done, he'd bolt right out.
To his right, second closest to the door, sat Blaise, his posture remained tall, his mere stance demanded respect, in the menacing way, it didn't matter that he was sitting; he was clearly on top.
Parallel to the prestige boy, Pansy sat with her posture forming the letter 'c'. Her head reached to were her shoulder blades were supposed to be as her back rested very much were her behind should've been. If anyone didn't want to be there, it was her. Umbridge, of course, didn't bother to hide her destain as regards to his friends posture.
Pansy, however could not care less as her legs remained separated, the very reason she chose to wear trousers, and fiddled with the many rings that adorned her dainty, pale fingers. Watching her give literally zero care enraged Theodore with envy. He too wished to lay back in the most bizarre way and to fiddle with his own rings, but he, unlike Pansy, had something to gain from the meeting and didn't wish to ruin his reputation before having a chance to speak.
The Inquisitorial squad, never had meetings as such, in fact, if Theodore had known months ago that he actually had to attend to these he maybe been enticed to decline Umbridges' offer. Daphne did. The idea grew tempting, he didn't want to be there.
From how he viewed it at the time, he figured receiving a job as a student snitch, would work nicely with his snobby, rich, untouchable status. He felt his father would approve and it would make good conversation with Death eaters who asked him about school. Extracurriculares were suitable small talk for people who didn't want to talk, right?
He expected Draco would do all the work, and then they'd all get credit. Turns out blondie didn't seem to care himself and probably expected the same from the rest when volunteering. However it appeared Theodore would actually be useful, of which he did not anticipate.
"So." The professor of pink giggled yet again and every student present felt the sudden urge to repeatedly bang their own heads against the pink walls. "Doesn't anyone have anything to report?" Her smile ceased to fade, but no one missed the dangerous glint in her eye, along with the single twitch of her left brow. She looked so calm but they could all recognise the hot fury that surely burned her icy veins.
"So no one has anything to share?" There was that infamous eye twitch again. "Hm?"
His head swung backwards as he released a low groan of detest. "I may or may not have something." His words were followed with a stiff grunt, a reaction to all the surprised eyes of his friends. He didn't fail to notice how Draco sat up in his seat with determination he did not attempt to conceal.
"Mr Nott." Her smile turned tiny and gleeful... it was horrifying, but none would admit that in her presence. "I've always known you'd be destined for great things." Draco's expression grew into a scowl due to the admiration of which was not directed to him. Theo was, by that point, wishing he had just kept quiet, maybe he could've left sooner if he had.
"Uh huh." He called bullshit, she probably expected the least from him, he was after all an extremely careless personality. The thought brought a smug grin to his features.
The silence quickly grew odd. "Well?" She giggled again.
"Erm, I've noticed some galleon, a lot of them have been running around with." He rubbed his own chin in feigned interest.
"A coin?" Draco was quick to scoff. "Any one can get their hands on a coins. Some more than others." He muttered, Malfoy never passed the opportunity to ridicule the Weasleys on topics concerning their wealth, or more accurately, lack of it.
"No, it's engraved with some secret messages." Now that had everyone intrigued, even Pansy shifted slightly further up in her seat. It wasn't how he knew such information that had them spouting questions but why he cared in the first place. None expected such from him when it came to snitching.
In Theodore's perspective he was angry. It was as simple as that. He watched as her tears shed, tears that were entirely undeserved by her friends, her friends of which loathed him and his friends for being exactly as they were. Cruel. He didn't see this as dobbing them in, but rather as his own form of revenge. All Gryffindors would pay. He didn't know how he felt whilst aware that meant the consequences may backlash on her too, he would deal with that later.
"How do you mean?" Adrian Pucey leant forward his elbows against his knees. The Pucey boy too, seemed bored and wanted an out, however was roped into interest at the sight of dedication within Theodore.
Goodness, Theo thought, was he really that bad?
"The coins appear normal but I saw the engravings shift, my guess would be Granger's cast a tricky spell or two." He shrugged. "Wouldn't put it past her." Many hummed and nodded in agreement.
"And how exactly do you plan to get your hands on one of these galleons?" The professor grinned eagerly. Her words brought a wicked smile to his face, everyone else following a suit.
• • •
"Alright everyone, one more duel and then we'll head off." Aurora groaned, she'd be even later than she thought.
All of DA circled around the spacious room of requirement awaiting for the chosen duellers. They'd been like that for the last hour, Harry would pick to students to battle with their current knowledge of spells and he would asses them. Just because one defeated the other, didn't mean that they scored a higher mark.
Aurora had been bouncing her left foot eager to bolt, she stood closer to the door so she'd have the chance to be the first one out. She often lingered once the lessons came to an end but she didn't have time that day, she had to meet him.
"Erm..." He hesitated, apparently looking down at his list a name caught his eye. She could tell, Rory also noticed how he seemed bothered by something, by what, she didn't know. "Marietta Edgecombe and Cho Chang." Oh, now she knew what.
The girls of blue stood before each other. Auroras eyes trailed over Marietta's gorgeous features. She was awfully pretty, with a natural golden head of curls and a sun kissed tone, rosy cheeks and delicate features. She was a lovely personality too, kind, gentle... genuine, a trait Aurora believed she lacked. Looking at the blonde precious she felt somewhat inferior.
The blonde and black haired Ravenclaw witches giggled profusely as they took their stance. Wands held upwards their duel began. Cho was doing exceptionally well firing spell after spell with little to no mercy, Rory could sense the struggle within Marietta, the girl was clearly fighting, it was obvious the match would be close.
Whilst the eyes of the students remained attentive to the intense spell battle, Rory shifted on her feet and waddled closer to her friend. Harry watched with his knuckles in his mouth. She tapped on his tense shoulder, the contact emitted a small yelp from him.
"Rory?" He smiled.
"What's happened with you and Cho?" His smile dwindled into a tiny frown.
"Erm, I don't think she's ready for a relationship." Ah. That makes sense, Aurora couldn't even begin to fathom the internal ache she must've been experiencing. Loosing her boyfriend and feeling something for someone else merely a year later, she must've been conflicted. Rory could only pity her.
"I mean, she kept talking about Cedric." He whined out of the blue.
Rory came to the conclusion that Harry didn't necessarily recognise her confusion and probably didn't feel as empathetic as Rory found herself. "Look, she's grieving-"
"Yeah, I know. I just really like her." He shrugged.
"I've noticed." Rory giggled, Harry copying her display of amusement. "She's struggling right now, and I reckon she really likes you, but it's probably safer that she's in a better state of mind before she pursues anything with someone as great and temperamental as you." Her eyebrows wiggled teasingly.
Their lowly chuckles died out at the sound of an oomph. Mariettas' figure came tumbling down before Rory's feet. Eyes shot to were the girl clutched her trembling ancle. Rory was first to bolt down to her, followed eagerly by Cho and Harry.
"Hey, are you okay?" Rory held her shoulder reassuringly, much like Theodore had done that one time, but she didn't need to be thinking of him right then.
"Yeah, but I think I rolled it." She whimpered as Harry applied slight pressure to the wound.
"It seems sprained." Harry concluded.
"Marie, I'm so sorry." Cho held her hands to her ajar mouth as students began to circle them, lingering at the sight of drama. Rory didn't notice how the Ravenclaw girl began to tremble as a response to the way the students circled, she was clearly noticing the parallels.
"Hey Cho." Hermione smiled sombrely at Rory, as she and Ron ushered the Ravenclaw witch away from her injured friend and the forming crowd, Rory smiled back in appreciation.
As Harry continued to examine the girls foot, Marrietta gripped Rorys' hand of which rested on her shaking, timid shoulder. Aurora frowned, but gripped tighter to the girl in pain.
"We have to get her to Madame Pomferey." Rory looked down at the swelling ligament.
"How would we explain this?" Marietta gestured to the room of requirement, clearly unsure how the school nurse would react to such a bizarre injury.
"Who cares, you're hurt." Rory mumbled back, she hated how warmly Marrietta smiled up at her. Such a pretty smile. She attempted to smile back down at her but was half certain she merely grimaced back down at her.
"We can make something up, let's get her there first." Harry and Rory each wrapped an arm of hers over their shoulders and began to drag her along with them. "Class dismissed?" Harry called as they hopped out of view.
• • •
They held the limping girl all the way to the hospital wing and was quick to leave her in the trusty hands of madame Pomferey. They came up with some sorry excuse as to why she was injured and was thankful for their teachers lack of questioning. Cho, soon arrived with a sorrowful expression.
"Hey, are you okay?" Harry was quick to console her.
"Yeah, I just..." the girl bit her lip. "I feel so bad for hurting her."
"Hey, in such a class, stuff like this is bound to occur." Rory smiled down at Cho, who quickly returned the formality.
"I'm okay, Cho." Marrietta opened the curtain of which separated them and smiled teasingly. She wore a bandage wrapped cast over her ancle, and gripped a single crutch. She stood up and made her way over to Cho, crushing her in a strong embrace. "See?"
The two began to giggle amongst themselves, and then Cho spoke. "Maybe you can get Nott to carry your things now, huh?" A sudden blush overtook Marietta's face and the giggles erupted between them once again.
Rory swallowed awkwardly. "Okay you two, I've got to head off, I'm incredibly late." She presented a practiced straight lined grin and quickly turned away, eager to leave. The second she was out of their line of view her walking pace progressed into a hurried sprint. She was late, so very late. And so was he. The two, from opposite directions rushed from where they were. The two scurried down flights of stairs, rushed around corners and weaved around passer-by's.
Finally the door was in sight, her once fastened. She didn't expect that the very moment her hand reached the door handle, another also aimed for the same handle, a force hit her side as their bodies collided.
The impact was not strong enough for either of them to topple over but it did send both of them back three steps each. Her head shot to the right, Theodore copying in her actions. Their eyes connected, and a wave of hot guilt hit them each, followed by amusement.
"You're late?" She raised her head in an attempt to muster up as much dignity as she could possibly gather. He snorted at her.
"And so are you." He grinned wickedly.
They both thought to ask the other on the subject of their previous location but each decided against it, they knew that they'd prefer not to answer if they had been asked themselves. Neither needed the interrogation to sway away from their favour.
"After you, m'lady." He grinned as he opened the door for her, gesturing she enter first. She faked a small curtsy before brushing past him. His smile widened as she past him, said smile remained wide even when he was no longer watching her, he felt like an idiot, catching himself grinning at the wall before him. He hurriedly followed after her, the very second realisation slapped him.
• • •
The two sat and studied. Their focus remained entirely on the work before them. They were slowly approaching the end of their time together studying. Neither felt a sense of relief at the thought like they once did at the idea those study sessions would eventually end.
Both of their intelligence was divided into the essay, they had spent months, planning, devising, rewriting and experimenting on the draught of living death. A topic they remembered Theodore chose months prior, they also remembered how he barely gave her a choice way back then.
Her hand, after a round of vigorous writing, began to ache. Dropping her quill back into the ink, she slowly massaged her aching wrist. Twisting and rubbing against the skin, Aurora was surprised how his hand had yet to grow sore. Looking up from her work, she turned to look at Theodore who was very much not writing.
She frowned, that was why he seemed so unbothered, instead of dedicated note taking, he appeared to be mindlessly doodling... on his arm? His sleeved rolled up past his elbows as he used his ink and quill to flightily scribble on his own wrist. She peaked over the table to get a closer look.
His entire concentration was dedicated entirely towards a series of silly faces, all different shapes and sizes. She frowned and looked back up at his expression. His eyes were furrowed and his lips were pursed, his chin near rested against his chest, of which she noticed the top two buttons had been undone and his tie loosened. It looked like he didn't seem to care about anything other than the ink being sketched upon his skin.
"What're you doing?" She stated, bluntly. The boy, who was initially paying attention solely to his wrist, yelped in surprise to the intrusion. His face paled as his posture shrunk, almost in guilt, like he knew he was completely and utterly caught. Hah, busted! She thought.
"Erm. Nothing." She watched as he wiped his hands down the sides of his trousers, his eyes quickly scanning the table, as of searching for something to shift the conversation.
She smirked a coyly grin. "Ah huh?" Snatching his wrist, she exposed the decorated patch of skin. Her eyebrow raised disapprovingly. "What's this? You're supposed to be working." Rory huffed.
"Okay, okay, you caught me." His smile came back. "Now what's my punishment?" He leant in, devastatingly close, as he murmured the words. His eyes trailed up and down her face as she tried to disguise her loud gulp as a coupe. When he grew closer, she slowly began to lean back into her chair, he opposed her actions and began to lean over her shrinking figure.
When she could no longer lean any further back, his arms rested in either side of her chair arms, trapping her in. She paused in her actions entirely, baffled when she felt his finger come into contact with her nose in a 'boop' like fashion. A damp and cold feeling became of the top of her nose, and she automatically knew what he had done. Turning to view herself in the reflection of the window, she saw herself looking back at her with an ink black nose.
She stifled a groan, freezing, when she made eye contact with Theodore from the window, he was grinning cheekily, as though he was proud of his childlike mannerism. Her eyes didn't stray from his, she used this as the perfect opportunity to swipe the side of his face with a swab of ink, herself. Using her knuckles to muffle her giggles, his expression turned shocked and confused.
Dipping his and back into the ink he aimed for her face again, smiling, she shuffled away as far as she could. She could exactly escape far as his arms still kept her trapped in her seat. The pad of his thumb ran slowly along her bottom lip, and if it weren't for the damp substance that she felt trail down her chin, she'd... well she didn't know what'd she'd do.
She rubbed her palm in the entire ink bottle, ensuring her hand would be completely stained, before running her hand down his face and neck and along his exposed chest. It was all done in a playful manner, she didn't notice exactly how sensual the act could be mistaken for. He smirked at her obliviousness. "You know I think I like this punishment." She exhaled loudly. Her eyes wide. His grin spread further across his face.
Shoving his chest, she abruptly stood. He fell back into his chair, arms raised in mock defeat. The both of them were drenched in ink. Staring down at themselves they were a mess, and it was all his fault. She glared down at the cause of her appearance, he simply grinned back up.
Then, a wicked idea plagued her. An utterly evil idea. Her leer faded as a tiny, proud grin crawled up upon her face, overwhelming her features. Theodore could easily recognise the facial expression of pure malice, and he saw it then, gracing the features of Aurora Flores.
He would've deemed it a beautiful sight, he would have attempted to redraw every feature of her face, to cherish such wickedness. It suited her. His eyes couldn't trace over every tilt of her curled lips, nor could he memorise the crease of her forehead, or squint of her eyes. He did not once question such an expression, but savoured it.
He wanted to frame the image entirely, he would have, but then a splash of dark liquid poured down his neck and chest. His mouth pulled agape. She truely was wicked.
"Aurora, you sly little minx." Advancing toward her she clutched her mouth as she squealed. They were still in the library, and she did not need to be booted once again. His arms, firm and tight gripped her waist and pulled her into him, her feet dangling from bellow her.
The ink that she spilt over him smeared down her own shirt, she gasped into his shoulder at the feeling of the sticky substance, glad that they were sheltered by the rows of shelves, Aurora knew she would freak if anyone had saw them in such a filthy state.
She raised her head from his shoulder to form yet another nasty glance, an expression he often aimed for, his constant teasing and bickering were all target practice, each hit aiming for the prize that was her cruel glances and glib responses. Only that time she didn't glare up at him, too distracted by their proximity. Their noses remained an inch from one another, her chest and hands pressed firmly against his front, his arms caging her in securely.
He swallowed. So did she. Each wore a matching tint of burning pink on their cheeks, marking the sudden wave of giddiness. It was a practically foreign notion, yet somehow it remained recognisable whilst in each others presence... especially when they remained so close.
The palm of his hand pressed into the curve of her back, urging her to arch into him, it was an unconscious reaction, as though a voice whispered such doings in his ear. If a devil and angel rested in each of his shoulders, for a moment, he genuinely believed both would urge him to press her against him tighter, to lift her face closer to his, and to ever so gently brush his lips over hers.
The amusement in the atmosphere vanished. Replaced with a heated gaze, aflame cheeks and a tight embrace. She took, slow calculated breaths, each intake of air, inspired a heave of her chest. She would have accused such an intimate action to be a reaction to such closeness, but in reality, a small part of her perhaps wanted him to feel her breaths.
It felt odd. Completely and entirely peculiar. Never once had she found herself fawning over him, never did she think of him and sigh dreamily, she didn't write their initials in hearts, nor did she kick her feet at the remembrance of him. No. It wasn't a crush. It couldn't be.
He'd spent the better part of his life hating her, filled with unearned rage. Patience and solace did not come easily to him, and at the beginning of the year she was a famous trigger for such malice. She had often occupied his mind, whether it be with distaste, confusion... or whatever in the bloody hell he was experiencing then. It wasn't crush. It couldn't be.
She then quickly cleared her throat. He dropped her. She stumbled, and the bloody idiot before her made no move to sturdy her clumsy figure. He stood stoic, face emotionless as he watched her catch herself... what a gentlemen.
"Call me Rory." She grinned, referring to when he had called her Aurora. "My friends call me Rory." Her smile grew shy as his face remained blank. Soon, the grin exchanged into an awkward grimace, a response to his lack of reaction.
She took a step back to leave him to himself and the mess of ink and quills but he spoke. He spoke in a rushed manner, practically a form of keeping her for at least a moment longer. "Rory? Your name is Aurora, is it not?" His eyebrows tilted downward.
A small smile etched upon her cheeks. "Rory, short for Aurora, I just prefer it." She shrugged, collecting her bag and empty jar that used to hold her ink.
"Why?" Confusion eloped him. He preferred the name Theo, because it differentiated him and his father as much as he could. He hated how he shared a name with the person he loathed most, the man responsible for taking away the person he loved most. So, he often asked to be called Theo. He was unaware of her relationship with her parents but he doubted she was named after anyone she despised. So, why? Why did she prefer Rory?
"Aurora is too, old timey." Her shoulders hugged her cheeks for another moment before shrugging downward, lazily. "I've never liked it."
He paused, trying to find the right words. It was his first instinct to dive straight into an entire monologue as to why she should cherish her birth name, but would that make him seem desperate? Pushy? He then thought of mentioning her mother, but he did not wish to bring down her spirits.
His mouth moved before his brain could. "Aurora... The Aurora Borealis is a spectacular natural light display in the Arctic, often called the 'northern lights'... it also means dawn. I believe it suits you." Another blush grew upon his cheeks, it looked as though someone had stricken each side of his face, he wanted to strike each side of his face, punishment for the stupidity of coming off as an idiot.
He couldn't remember where he learnt the etymology of her name, only that it apparently stayed with him. The information was probably cherished somewhere quietly in the back of his mind, awaiting for the perfect moment to humiliate him. Well, it achieved its' goal, he was certainly embarrassed.
Theodore brushed past her yet again, his shoulder grazing hers as he walked away from yet another conversation that left him speechless due to the brashness and impulsive nature of his loud mouth.
No, It was not a crush... it couldn't be.
__________________________________
AN
Istg I feel like I'm making this pace too fast. I want a slow burn, does it feel slow to you guys?
Anyway, hope you enjoyed, please excuse any typos or mistakes
Thank you and have a positively lovely day xx
- Sofia